The 11-year-old stabbed with scissors during a fight with another pupil at their Christian school in Auckland remains in a critical but stable condition this morning.
His class at Pacific Christian School in Mangere Bridge gathered immediately after the incident yesterday morning to pray for him, as well as the "one with the police".
The Herald last night visited the family home of the injured boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and spoke to his aunt who was looking after the child's three siblings as his parents sat at his bedside in Starship Hospital.
The aunt said details of the incident were not clear.
"I hope, I cross my fingers, that he will be okay," she said.
She described her nephew as a funny, happy boy.
"He loves rugby. He wants to play rugby."
The school manager said the child was stabbed with scissors during a fight with another intermediate-age boy about 11.30am.
It is thought he was stabbed in the head.
He was rushed to Middlemore Hospital before being transferred to Starship by ambulance mid-afternoon, where he was in a critical but stable condition.
Police confirmed a student was being interviewed yesterday in relation to the incident.
A woman whose son was in the same class as the boy said her 11-year-old son knew both boys.
"My son was in the bathroom when it happened, but he said the ambulance came and took the one boy.
"Then the class came together and they prayed for the two boys - for the one at the hospital and the one with the police."
She described the victim as "a nice boy", from a good family.
It is a private co-educational school for children in primary and intermediate years. It sits within the Tokaikolo Church complex, which runs the school.
Roll information showed 84 students, 83 of them Pasifika, most of whom are Tongan,
Its most recent Educational Review Office report noted school managers were unable to assure inspectors they had systems in place for managing all aspects of providing a safe environment for students.
No member of staff held a current first-aid certificate at the time of inspection in December, 2012.
The church made headlines in 2012 when its president came under fire for asking the congregation to fundraise $100,000 a month.
Mangere MP Su'a William Sio called on the community to remain calm.
"I'm in shock by what's happened, that a child has been stabbed while at school. [But] I would just call for calm and for the community to let the police carry out their investigation."
- by Sophie Ryan, Vaimoana Tapaleao, Sam Boyer
